•Thursday, May 18, 2006
soon the jamaa on the street will be clad in a "i didnt buy kengen shares, regretably depressed" or "i am a fool to have missed kengen, please don't rub it in" tee shirt. kengen has fought for a good position in both the formal and informal jua kali joints. kengen debate is best ranked in the league of the upcoming world cup and last night's champions league title (thats another sore wound, seems i identify well with the losing). within the first day of trading, investors had a cool 308 percent gain on their investment in less than two months of subscribing for the shares. speculation is high that prices may rise higher as institutional investors fuel demand in the market as they try to accumulate their projected investments in kengen. this blue chip company market capitalisation in the first day of trading averaged kshs 100 billion from kshs 26 billion. the hardest questions to answer are from friends and relatives who relied on my wise counsel to put their money in kengen, "why didn't you buy the shares?". all the same, a salty taste in my mouth, the feeling is similar to that i had last december. i did not win in the safaricom's 30 millionaires in 30 days, nor in the celtel's or any other company's million shillings promotions. and life goes on. after all kengen is not the last best thing after sliced bread. get the drift?
i have had the 'privilege' of touring some of the leading markets in this side of the planet. starting with gikomba, the bargain for leather jackets, shirts, trousers and shoes in those needy school days was fantastic. it also offers good furniture and hardware stuff at reasonable prices for middle income earners. the wangige market days are best for huge discounts in shoes and if you see a business opportunity in brokering wholesale distribution of eggs, thats the place to go. the kangemi market competes fairy with the ngara market for foodstuffs and takes care of class differences. the stalls at city market cannot be compared with the ever-demolished ones at kenyatta market and the variety in animal produts is worth mentioning. i have also had a meet the people tour in the famed lakeside kibuye market. the nairobi mayor should borrow a leaf from the former kisumu mayor on how to maintain the coveted city status. i hear the biggest market is in karatina but am yet to judge. i have also missed the all-time marigiti market in the city centre, maybe its due to my loath of rodents. the korogocho one in eastlands beats them all in terms of prices especially on foodstuffs but has the 'best' crime perceptions and records. i could hardly breathe, despite the dress down!
oh yeah, forgot to mention the leading of them all, the nairobi stock market. since its the only market where formal dressing is encouraged and real money changes hands, i hear they substituted the word 'market' with 'exchange' to emphasize the difference. i have been at the public gallery section severally and did my best to learn the mechanics of the writings on the board and who exactly are the red jackets and how their roles differ from the ones in green jackets. this was during those dropping cv 'potholing' (not tarmacking) routines. if you are looking for a job, after dropping several cvs to 'hakuna kazi' doors or cv-trashing-secretaries, there are popular joints to hang out in. one of them is along aga khan walk opposite uchumi supermarket. the others are; uhuru park, jivanjee gardens, a long walk to arboretum and if you feel financially savvy knowledgewise, then the nairobi stock market public gallery is the place to be. later i had the honour of entering where the action is several times, mingling with the red jackets.
last night i tuned to nation tv news at nine. whenever julie gichuru is the news anchor, i never have to struggle with the remote wondering which station to tune in to. if she were to advertise a bic biro pen at a price of kshs 5000 i would thoughtlessly buy. among the news item was the kengen buzz and a bit of action of what transpired at the nairobi stock market was aired. i was amazed at the noise, shouting, the price haggling from the reds that heralded the announcement of the official trading price of kshs 45. it is something that i never experienced in the 'leading' markets i have visited previously. in the other markets, the traders are only loud while trying to catch your attention, once you decide on an item, the bargaining process is calm and not high pitched. if i were a red, i would have gone with a loud speaker and i would have had my five minutes of fame as the 'professional red' who set kengen's market price. i wonder how the greens slept, all those voices vibrating in your head at a go when you are trying to sleep!
truth be told, the stock market has grown in leaps and bounds in the last decade. it is rated fourth in africa in terms of return in equity after egypt, zambia and uganda according to africa business magazine. but it has lagged behind in technological advancements that could make it more transparent, efficient and faster. when evaluating a broker one will not have to worry about the vocal ability of the red representing the broker on the trading floor. or the red's social relation with the greens. or whether the brokerage firm/ broker staff/staff kins/staff friends also have vested interest in the shares you have ordered to buy or offered to sell. a simple order/price matching application would have fairly priced the kengen trading price. the brokers need to have more efficient information systems in place. and the cdsc needs to pull up its socks in handling huge volumes of transactions. in addition, there is dire need to fast track the implementation of the automatic trading system to phase out the public outcry system. we are in the 21st century my friends.
i have had the 'privilege' of touring some of the leading markets in this side of the planet. starting with gikomba, the bargain for leather jackets, shirts, trousers and shoes in those needy school days was fantastic. it also offers good furniture and hardware stuff at reasonable prices for middle income earners. the wangige market days are best for huge discounts in shoes and if you see a business opportunity in brokering wholesale distribution of eggs, thats the place to go. the kangemi market competes fairy with the ngara market for foodstuffs and takes care of class differences. the stalls at city market cannot be compared with the ever-demolished ones at kenyatta market and the variety in animal produts is worth mentioning. i have also had a meet the people tour in the famed lakeside kibuye market. the nairobi mayor should borrow a leaf from the former kisumu mayor on how to maintain the coveted city status. i hear the biggest market is in karatina but am yet to judge. i have also missed the all-time marigiti market in the city centre, maybe its due to my loath of rodents. the korogocho one in eastlands beats them all in terms of prices especially on foodstuffs but has the 'best' crime perceptions and records. i could hardly breathe, despite the dress down!
oh yeah, forgot to mention the leading of them all, the nairobi stock market. since its the only market where formal dressing is encouraged and real money changes hands, i hear they substituted the word 'market' with 'exchange' to emphasize the difference. i have been at the public gallery section severally and did my best to learn the mechanics of the writings on the board and who exactly are the red jackets and how their roles differ from the ones in green jackets. this was during those dropping cv 'potholing' (not tarmacking) routines. if you are looking for a job, after dropping several cvs to 'hakuna kazi' doors or cv-trashing-secretaries, there are popular joints to hang out in. one of them is along aga khan walk opposite uchumi supermarket. the others are; uhuru park, jivanjee gardens, a long walk to arboretum and if you feel financially savvy knowledgewise, then the nairobi stock market public gallery is the place to be. later i had the honour of entering where the action is several times, mingling with the red jackets.
last night i tuned to nation tv news at nine. whenever julie gichuru is the news anchor, i never have to struggle with the remote wondering which station to tune in to. if she were to advertise a bic biro pen at a price of kshs 5000 i would thoughtlessly buy. among the news item was the kengen buzz and a bit of action of what transpired at the nairobi stock market was aired. i was amazed at the noise, shouting, the price haggling from the reds that heralded the announcement of the official trading price of kshs 45. it is something that i never experienced in the 'leading' markets i have visited previously. in the other markets, the traders are only loud while trying to catch your attention, once you decide on an item, the bargaining process is calm and not high pitched. if i were a red, i would have gone with a loud speaker and i would have had my five minutes of fame as the 'professional red' who set kengen's market price. i wonder how the greens slept, all those voices vibrating in your head at a go when you are trying to sleep!
truth be told, the stock market has grown in leaps and bounds in the last decade. it is rated fourth in africa in terms of return in equity after egypt, zambia and uganda according to africa business magazine. but it has lagged behind in technological advancements that could make it more transparent, efficient and faster. when evaluating a broker one will not have to worry about the vocal ability of the red representing the broker on the trading floor. or the red's social relation with the greens. or whether the brokerage firm/ broker staff/staff kins/staff friends also have vested interest in the shares you have ordered to buy or offered to sell. a simple order/price matching application would have fairly priced the kengen trading price. the brokers need to have more efficient information systems in place. and the cdsc needs to pull up its socks in handling huge volumes of transactions. in addition, there is dire need to fast track the implementation of the automatic trading system to phase out the public outcry system. we are in the 21st century my friends.
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4 comments:
I am glad I am not the only one with a bitter taste in my mouth about KENGEN, Jana I wanted to die at those prices, after I had convinced even my mother to buy. I left it too late and then couldnt get to the stockbroker/bank on time - Sounds stupid right.
brilliant piece..
i hedged my bets and am riding the kengen wave...
poleni..
lakini as you pointed out, it aint the only fish in the pond..
the bigger one-safcom is yet to come!!
the last time i visited Gikosh exchange, i was pickpocketed and the loud trading voices at the market were conveniently raised to pitch high levels.I believed it was meant to muffle out my cries for help as I ran after the thieves.
Kengen, I tried my best from here to open a cds through brokers but wapi. tried thro relatives and then chickened out at the thought of an oversubscription and refund process.
but i think more good things are still in store at NSE. I am so proud of fellow Kenyans though. People take advantage of available opportunities. that is the way to go.
and now that things have cooled, hopefully the brokers will respond to online applications.
@anon
welcome to the club. i was skeptical of kengen and so preoccupied with kcb and kq.
@kritik
yeah, they should harakisha safcom, kenya re, equity, suntra, kenya pipeline and telkom. kenyans seems ready for such ipo's
@ak
pole for your gikosh experience. brokers seem not yet ready to support online investors efficiently. am thinking of setting up an efficient, customer friendly online agent soon, you may be a beneficiary.